The Saga of the two Spanish lion cubs. Update as at 26th August 2014 HEALTH Under the expert care of Dr. McCauley and the staff at the Centre, the health of the cubs continues to improve. Their weight gain has been considerable. At rescue they weighted a pitiful 3 and 5 kgs respectively. But now, only two weeks later, they weigh 6.5 and 10.3 kgs. We anticipate that by the time they fly out to SA which, depending on a formidable list of bureaucratic obstacles, will be in early October, they should have recovered to weigh about 15 to 20 kgs respectively. See video of cubs getting care and attention: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ca7zj26ihvtp9hm/Cubs3%20249.MOV?n=81330501 COSTS We’ve been humbled by the large number of animal lovers who have responded to our call for donations. The total cost of this rescue, based on estimates and quotes, will be in the region of $15,000. So far the finances look like this: $2100 paid over out of CACH funds to CACHSpain to meet initial expenses, mostly veterinary and special diet. CJ and Luis travel for an hour each way to attend the Centre daily from Madrid and have declined to draw on these funds to cover travelling expenses. $2000 raised by Ange in Australia (Painted Dog Conservation Inc) www.painteddogconservation.iinet.net.auThis means that she has won the right to name one of the cubs.Please find below a link to the Painted Dog Conservation Inc Online Auction that is now LIVE, with all proceeds going to the rescue, in addition to direct donations made –this is open to the public so please feel free to share far and wide to anyone you think may be interested! It is really easy to use-people simply follow the link below, and then place an appropriate bid on their item of choice. If they are outbid, then they also receive a notification, and when an item they have bid on is ending, they also receive notification-so a great time saving system……http://www.myminiauction.com/painteddogconservationinc $1,254 paid in through PayPal via Indiegogo crowdfunding. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-rescue-two-spanish-lion-cubs/x/3185256 $1600 raised by us independently via our own database of contacts. Total: US$6,954.00 As you can see, we are nearly half way there! And now our friend Margrit Harris of Nikela has offered to match any donations, made before the end of August, via the Donate Button on our website up to a limit of $500. So the end of August is not too far away.So keep those donations coming please.